Structuralism is a theory based on the idea that human behavior is determined by external structures. This theory relies on the assumption that these external structures such as society are purely conceptual because it is all about how an individual perceives the world. Structuralism appears to prioritize experiences with conceptual structures that relate to human cognition.
Questions Structuralism Ask
- What pieces of this have we seen before? In what context? What patterns can we predict?
- What rules cause or signal differentiation?
Pro
The particular use I see structuralism being used for is finding the meaning of signs for particular cultural structures and individuals’ behavior because of it.
Con
Thoery seems like it eliminates the message of the author and audience because it is all about the people who dominate society at the time.
Contributors
Barthes is one of the contributors who questioned how something has meaning. Propp is a contributor who categorized stories by plot and character functions. Frye is another contributor who did something similar to Propp but characterized stories by genre instead. Barthes led the idea of how we put meaning into things while Propp and Frye made ways to categorize those meanings.